Calculator Usage Tests

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TP109
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Calculator Usage Tests

#1 Post by TP109 »

Tested usage for most of the calculators listed here at PFW to see which ones were the most lightweight. Because Red Crab uses so many resources and skewed the results, it's not listed on the charts, but its data is included on the spreadsheet.
calc_ram.jpg
calc_bench.jpg
calc_spreadsheet.jpg

shnbwmn
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Re: Calculator Usage Tests

#2 Post by shnbwmn »

Not really related: what software do you use to create your charts/graphs?

TP109
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Re: Calculator Usage Tests

#3 Post by TP109 »

Excel 2003

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I am Baas
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Re: Calculator Usage Tests

#4 Post by I am Baas »

@TP109

SpeedCrunch x2

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Re: Calculator Usage Tests

#5 Post by TP109 »

I am Baas wrote:SpeedCrunch x2
Not sure what you are implying.

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Re: Calculator Usage Tests

#6 Post by I am Baas »

TP109 wrote:
I am Baas wrote:SpeedCrunch x2
Not sure what you are implying.
Capture100.JPG

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Re: Calculator Usage Tests

#7 Post by TP109 »

@I am Baas

Seems I overlooked that. I try to keep only the data for the latest versions in the most current spreadsheet. Although the chart doesn't indicate version, the lower usage is for Speedcrunch ver 0.10.1 and the higher usage for ver 0.11.0. I'll make that correction on my end so that it doesn't occur again in the future.

Thanks

edit:
went ahead and made the corrections. Corrected charts posted below. I changed the formatting a bit to keep things interesting.
calc_ram.jpg
calc_bench.jpg
calc_spread.jpg

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webfork
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Re: Calculator Usage Tests

#8 Post by webfork »

Everytime I see one of my favorites on your tests get one of the better ratings, I always feel like I won something. Calcute in this case is my preferred program, so this is great news. :)

I wondered if there was a relatively simple algebra calculation that's just hard for computers to do that we could run through one of these as a benchmark. Factoring a prime comes to mind but I think that's a bit more than an algebra problem can contain. Unfortunately, I asked a math friend of mine about this but he indicated there really wasn't unless you can write up a more complex process script.
shnbwmn wrote:Not really related: what software do you use to create your charts/graphs?
Yeah I've been wondering that for a while now. You should do a video or something on how you run these.

TP109
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Re: Calculator Usage Tests

#9 Post by TP109 »

webfork wrote:Everytime I see one of my favorites on your tests get one of the better ratings, I always feel like I won something. Calcute in this case is my preferred program, so this is great news. :)

I wondered if there was a relatively simple algebra calculation that's just hard for computers to do that we could run through one of these as a benchmark. Factoring a prime comes to mind but I think that's a bit more than an algebra problem can contain. Unfortunately, I asked a math friend of mine about this but he indicated there really wasn't unless you can write up a more complex process script.
shnbwmn wrote:Not really related: what software do you use to create your charts/graphs?
Yeah I've been wondering that for a while now. You should do a video or something on how you run these.
I want to identify the most efficient programs for my use too, so while I'm at it, I thought it could be a good idea to share the results. That way, many eyes are looking at the data and can provide feedback such as user experiences, improvements, and/or corrections. I did some app testing years ago as a personal project, but didn't formalize the process, such as recording the test conditions, developing performance standards, using standardized reporting, and benchmarking against similar apps. Unless the process is somewhat standardized, it becomes difficult to interpret the results months or years down the road, and it won't have much credibility. So, I learned from those errors and I'm always seeking to improve the process, so any feedback, good or bad, will be taken into consideration.

As far as these calculator tests go, the data is based on resource use just after launching and the calculators are not really doing anything. I thought about putting the calculators through some operating state as well, but that can get pretty complicated, so I kept it as simple as possible for these particular tests.

Most of the portable office programs on this site should be able to create charts. Excel isn't the only app that can do that. I use Excel because I purchased it and have used it for awhile, it works well on my system, and the xls sheets and charts are compatible with other office programs. To test this, I opened the FM Test xls file in LibreOffice Calc and was able to create the below chart in Calc in only a few minutes using nearly identical steps as used for the MS Excel charts.
FM-launch-LibreOfficeCalc.jpg
Although Calcute is the top performer for these tests, the top 11 apps are similar in performance. Resource usage doesn't really become much of a factor until the 12th position where usage starts to increase significantly. But yes, I understand it's nice to see a personal favorite in the front position.

I will consider making a video. Really haven't thought about that until you mentioned it.

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Re: Calculator Usage Tests - video

#10 Post by TP109 »

webfork wrote:You should do a video or something on how you run these.
Below is a link for a video that shows how to create bar charts in MS Excel 2003 on YouTube. This is the same process used to create the charts for the various resource usage tests posted to this board. I attempted to create another video for LibreOffice Calc, but had a lot of trouble getting any of the various screen recorders to work well with LibreOffice. I've noticed this before with some other cross-platform apps, which usually function as intended, but sometimes behave strangely when used in an uncharacteristic manner. In any case, the process for creating charts is nearly identical between Excel 2003 and LibreOffice Calc, so another video would be somewhat redundant.

Create an Embedded Bar Chart with MS Excel 2003 (HD)

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